How to teach an Australian Shepherd to herd?

Q: How do you teach an Australian Shepherd to herd?
I have a two year old Australian Shepherd that I want to teach her how to herd. She’s very active and incredibly smart. I live in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Photo Credit: agiledogs/Flickr CC

Answers and Views:

Answer by Squirting Lime
Shepherd dogs have a natural instinct to herd sheep. But most people buy these wonderful, loving companions as a best friend, not a herding worker. I suggest you buy one of those pointing canes. These canes are used for directing your dog on how to herd sheep. You could try asking around or googling for sheep-herding classes especially for dogs. Here are some questions I would like to inquire:
1) Do you own sheep?
2) Do you have any experience with sheep-herding dogs?

If you answer yes for both questions, I think you should give it a shot on training your dog to herd sheep. If you answer no for both questions, I really think you should just treat your dog as a loving companion, nothing more. If you answer yes to only one of the questions, I think you could. Just be aware of financial losses. Otherwise…
Good Luck! :)

Answer by dogz101
Herding will come easy to an australian shepherd because herding is there natural instinct and also they are very smart and learn commands very fast. It is great you want to teach your dog to herd. I do not know much about the areas in indiana but i do know you should look up on the internet classes.
I hope this works out for you. It will make your australian shepherds very happy and it will be wonderful seeing your australian shepherds even more happy then they are :]

Answer by UHaveToBeKiddingMe
I am not familiar with Indiana, but here is a link to a herding farm in Indiana. If they are not close to you they will certainly know someone who is.
You will find an instructor, and the first thing they will do is an “instinct test” on your dog to see how it is with the sheep. You will go from there.
Herding is great fun!
Here is the link http://www.dogwoodfarmherding.com/
(Photo Credit: AJU_photography/Flickr )

Answer by UHaveToBeKiddingMe
While some dogs do have natural instinct, it takes a good instructor to make that instinct useful. For trainers i'd suggest one of the following – first, this site can help you find trainers http://www.blueboniff.com/
Keep in mind that herding trainers are much fewer and farther between than most other trainers so you'll probably have to travel much further than for any other venue.

• How often should you bathe an Australian Shepherd dog?
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• Australian Shepherd puppy growing too fast?

Also, you can visit herding trials and talk with participants to see about finding someone with stock who can help you. There are four herding venues in North America and any one of them may be helpful to find a good trainer for you.

Sources for listings of upcoming trials for these venues are:
http://www.akc.org/
www.workingaussiesource.com/
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